Felipe Massa knows a thing or two about rising above adversity.
He lost the 2008 F1 drivers’ championship to Lewis Hamilton by a single point; a year later, he was severely injured by a piece of flying debris in a horrific freak incident.
In 2016, the much-loved Brazilian racing driver retired from F1, only to be hustled back into a seat at the last minute for the 2017 season.
In a world inhabited by playboys with rich parents and which rewards a certain ruthlessness, Massa has always been seen as the gentleman scrapper, the quietly spoken and shy man who made it to the very top without letting it change him.
Now, Massa faces a new challenge. This former Ferrari, Sauber and Williams F1 ace has now joined Venturi in the electric racing series Formula E. This is no cakewalk, even for a man well used to sharing a garage with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Formula E offers a very different type of racing, a different type of racing car and a whole new breed of young, technologically-savvy racing drivers.
Despite 269 F1 race starts, 41 podiums and 11 wins, how will Massa face up to this new era? Influx secured an exclusive interview during collective preseason testing in Valencia to find out.
